Autonomous mobile body

Abstract

To prevent an influence on a traveling unit and an upper unit by a motion state of each other.SOLUTION: An autonomous mobile body includes: a traveling unit that has a drive wheel and a chassis and can travel straight forward and backward and turn left and right; an upper unit that is disposed at an upper portion of the traveling unit and has a vibrational relaxation mechanism capable of relaxing vibration caused by the straight traveling and turning of the traveling unit; a first controller that controls the traveling unit; and a second controller that controls the upper unit. The first and second controllers acquire information indicating motion states of each other's units, and control the traveling unit and the upper unit such that the units operate in conjunction with each other on the basis of the acquired information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomous moving body. [Background technology]

[0002] Autonomous mobile objects, such as robots, that can move autonomously have been developed. The autonomous mobile object includes a traveling unit having drive wheels and the like, and also includes, for example, an upper unit that includes a mechanism for mitigating vibrations generated by the traveling unit traveling.

[0003] For example, the delivery robot of Patent Document 1 includes a swing mechanism that swingably supports a placement section on which a delivery item is placed, thereby reducing vibrations caused by the travel of the delivery robot. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-104439 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, depending on the traveling state of the traveling unit, the vibration may not be sufficiently damped, and the traveling unit may be affected by the movement of the upper unit caused by the vibration damping mechanism.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and has an objective of providing an autonomous moving body that can suppress the influence of the traveling unit and the upper unit on each other's motion state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The autonomous mobile body of this embodiment comprises a running unit having drive wheels and a chassis and capable of running in a straight line forward and backward and turning left and right, an upper unit arranged on top of the running unit and having a vibration damping mechanism capable of damping vibrations caused by the straight line running and turning of the running unit, a first control unit that controls the running unit, and a second control unit that controls the upper unit, and the first and second control units mutually acquire information indicating the motion state of each other's unit, and control the running unit and the upper unit to work together based on the acquired information. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to this embodiment, it is possible to suppress the traveling unit and the upper unit from being affected by the motion state of each other. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of an autonomous mobile robot according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the autonomous mobile robot according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the pendulum ECU according to the embodiment controls the top plate of the upper unit so as to be linked with the traveling unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the traveling ECU according to the embodiment controls the traveling unit so as to be linked with the upper unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a procedure of a control process of an autonomous traveling robot by the pendulum ECU and the traveling ECU according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where a pendulum ECU according to a modified example of the embodiment controls a top plate of an upper unit so as to be linked with a traveling unit. [Figure 7]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of a control process of an autonomous traveling robot by a pendulum ECU and a traveling ECU according to a modified example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The autonomous mobile robot of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, "forward / backward (direction)" refers to a direction parallel to the direction in which the autonomous mobile robot travels. Also, "left / right (direction)" refers to a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the autonomous mobile robot travels and parallel to the ground.

[0011] (Example of an autonomous robot configuration) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of an autonomous mobile robot R according to an embodiment. More specifically, Fig. 1(a) shows an example of the external appearance of the autonomous mobile robot R. Fig. 1(b) shows an example of the internal structure of an upper unit 1 provided in the autonomous mobile robot R. That is, in Fig. 1(b), the housing part of the top plate 11 and the housing part of the main body 12 in Fig. 1(a) are omitted.

[0012] 1(a), the autonomous mobile robot R comprises an upper unit 1 and a traveling unit 2. The traveling unit 2 is, for example, in the shape of a rounded rectangular parallelepiped, has four drive wheels 21 and a chassis 22, and is capable of traveling straight ahead and turning left and right. The upper unit 1 is, for example, in the shape of a barrel, and is disposed above the traveling unit 2. It comprises a top plate 11 and a main body 12.

[0013] The top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 is configured to be capable of performing pendulum motion independently of the main body 12. By such pendulum motion, the top plate 11 can reduce vibrations that occur in the upper unit 1 due to the travel of the travel unit. This also allows the autonomous traveling robot R to place and transport food, drink, luggage, etc. on the top plate 11, or to place and display decorative items such as flowers in a vase or objects. A mark 111 is attached to the top surface of the top plate 11, which serves as a reference when placing such transported items or decorative items. In addition, the top plate 11 can make gestures to people around it by tilting at a predetermined angle due to the pendulum motion.

[0014] The main body 12 of the upper unit 1 is configured to be rotatable around an axis in the vertical direction of the autonomous mobile robot R, independent of the top plate 11. This allows the main body 12 to make gestures such as turning its face to face people around it, for example, by providing a face-like decoration on the main body 12.

[0015] With the above functions, the autonomous traveling robot R can autonomously travel within a mobile environment such as a restaurant, a house, a facility, a warehouse, a factory, or outdoors, and perform transportation work, displaying ornaments, communicating with people in the vicinity, etc. The autonomous traveling robot R is an example of an autonomous mobile body.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1( b ), the upper unit 1 includes a rotation mechanism 13 and a pendulum mechanism 14 .

[0017] The rotation mechanism 13 is disposed inside the main body 12 of the upper unit 1, and is capable of causing the main body 12 to perform a swinging motion around a vertical axis with the traveling unit 2 as a reference.

[0018] The pendulum mechanism 14 is disposed inside the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 , and includes a front-to-back pendulum mechanism 141 and a left-to-right pendulum mechanism 142 .

[0019] The front-rear pendulum mechanism 141 tilts the tabletop 11 in the front-rear direction. In this way, by tilting the tabletop 11 in the front-rear direction, it is possible to reduce, for example, vibrations in the front-rear direction caused by the traveling unit 2 while traveling back and forth. In addition, by tilting the tabletop 11 in the front-rear direction, it is possible to make gestures such as looking up at people around you or nodding to greet people around you.

[0020] The left-right pendulum mechanism 142 tilts the tabletop 11 left-right. In this way, by tilting the tabletop 11 left-right, it is possible to reduce, for example, left-right vibrations caused by the traveling unit 2 that swings left-right. In addition, by tilting the tabletop 11 left-right, it is possible to make a gesture as if tilting one's head, for example.

[0021] Thus, the pendulum mechanism 14 that damps the vibration generated in the upper unit 1 is an example of a vibration damping mechanism. If it is possible to dampen the vibration of the upper unit 1, the autonomous mobile robot R may be provided with a vibration damping mechanism other than the pendulum mechanism 14 that damps the vibration by pendulum motion.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the autonomous mobile robot R according to the embodiment.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the top plate 11 and main body 12 of the upper unit 1, and the traveling unit 2 are controlled by a pendulum ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 147, a swing ECU 133, and a traveling ECU 125, respectively.

[0024] Each of the pendulum ECU 147, the oscillating ECU 133, and the driving ECU 125 is an information processing device configured using specific hardware and software, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc.

[0025] In addition, the pendulum ECU 147, the swing ECU 133, and the travel ECU 125 are capable of communicating with one another via a controller area network (CAN) or the like, and transmit and receive various types of information.

[0026] The pendulum ECU and the swing ECU 133, which respectively control the top plate 11 and the main body 12 of the upper unit 1, are an example of a second control unit. The traveling ECU, which controls the traveling unit 2, is an example of a first control unit.

[0027] The traveling unit 2 includes a traveling drive unit 122 , a position sensor 123 , an object detection sensor 124 , and a traveling ECU 125 .

[0028] The traveling drive unit 122 includes an electric motor that drives the drive wheels 21 to rotate.

[0029] The position sensor 123 is a sensor that acquires data for the travel ECU 125 to estimate the position of the autonomous traveling robot R. The position sensor 123 is composed of, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor that acquires position information of the autonomous traveling robot R, and a sensor that acquires information such as the turning angle and rotational angular velocity of the drive wheels 21, and transmits a detection signal to the travel ECU 125.

[0030] The object detection sensor 124 is a sensor that detects objects such as obstacles around the autonomous traveling robot R. The object detection sensor 124 is configured, for example, by a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) or a millimeter wave sensor, and transmits a detection signal to the traveling ECU 125. Note that the object detection sensor 124 may also be configured by a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, or the like, and may also be configured by combining a plurality of sensing mechanisms.

[0031] The travel ECU 125 executes various controls in the travel unit 2. For example, the travel ECU 125 estimates the current position of the autonomous traveling robot R based on a detection signal acquired from the position sensor 123. In addition, the travel ECU 125 recognizes obstacles around the autonomous traveling robot R based on a detection signal acquired from the object detection sensor 124.

[0032] In addition, the travel ECU 125 generates a travel route from the current position to the destination based on the current position, the destination, and the positions of the obstacles. In addition, the travel ECU 125 controls the travel drive unit 122 to make the travel unit 2, and therefore the autonomous travel robot R, travel along the travel route.

[0033] The rotation mechanism 13 provided in the main body 12 of the upper unit 1 includes a swing drive unit 131 , a rotation angle sensor 132 , and a swing ECU 133 .

[0034] The swing drive unit 131 includes an actuator that rotates the rotation mechanism 13 .

[0035] The rotation angle sensor 132 is a sensor that detects the rotation angle of the rotation mechanism 13 , and transmits a detection signal to the swing ECU 133 .

[0036] The head-swivel ECU 133 executes various controls in the main body 12 of the upper unit 1. For example, when the traveling ECU 125 recognizes by the object detection sensor 124 that there is a person around the autonomous traveling robot R, the head-swivel ECU 133, which has received information from the traveling ECU 125 that the person has been recognized, makes a gesture such as turning the decorative part of the main body 12 that resembles a face toward the person.

[0037] The pendulum mechanism 14 provided on the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 includes a left-right pendulum drive unit 143 , a front-rear pendulum drive unit 144 , a position sensor 145 , an acceleration sensor 146 , and a pendulum ECU 147 .

[0038] The left-right pendulum drive unit 143 drives the left-right pendulum mechanism 142 to cause the tabletop 11 to perform left-right pendulum motion as described above. For example, when the autonomous robot R turns left or right, acceleration occurs in the autonomous robot R in the left-right direction. This can cause the upper unit 1 to vibrate in a manner that causes it to sway left and right. In addition, if transported items or ornaments are placed on the tabletop 11, these objects may shift left and right or fall. The left-right pendulum drive unit 143 causes the tabletop 11 to perform pendulum motion that tilts it left and right so as to offset the effect of the acceleration caused by the turning of the autonomous robot R, for example.

[0039] The front-rear pendulum drive unit 144 drives the front-rear pendulum mechanism 141 to cause the tabletop 11 to perform pendulum motion in the front-rear direction as described above. For example, when the autonomous mobile robot R travels forward and backward, acceleration occurs in the autonomous mobile robot R in the front-rear direction. This may cause the upper unit 1 to vibrate in a manner that causes it to sway in the front-rear direction. In addition, if transported objects or ornaments are placed on the tabletop 11, these objects may shift forward and backward or fall. The front-rear pendulum drive unit 144 causes the tabletop 11 to perform pendulum motion that tilts it in the front-rear direction so as to offset the effect of the acceleration caused by the autonomous mobile robot R traveling forward and backward.

[0040] The left / right pendulum drive unit 143 and the front / back pendulum drive unit 144 can be controlled in parallel. Therefore, no matter which direction acceleration occurs in 360 degrees around the autonomous traveling robot R, the left / right pendulum drive unit 143 and the front / back pendulum drive unit 144 are controlled in parallel to cancel out the effect of the acceleration, thereby mitigating the vibration generated in the upper unit 1.

[0041] Furthermore, as described above, the left / right pendulum drive unit 143 and the front / rear pendulum drive unit 144 cause the tabletop 11 to perform pendulum motion back / forth and left / right, thereby enabling the autonomous mobile robot R to perform gestures such as looking up, nodding, greeting, or tilting its head to people around it.

[0042] The position sensor 145 is a sensor that acquires data for the pendulum ECU 147 to estimate the position of the pendulum mechanism 14. The position sensor 145 is constituted by, for example, a rotational angular velocity sensor, and transmits a detection signal to the pendulum ECU 147. Note that the position sensor 145 may be provided for each of the front-rear pendulum mechanism 141 and the left-right pendulum mechanism 142 so as to be able to detect the front-rear pendulum motion and the left-right pendulum motion separately.

[0043] The acceleration sensor 146 detects the acceleration generated in the pendulum mechanism 14 and transmits a detection signal to the pendulum ECU 147 .

[0044] The pendulum ECU 147 executes various controls on the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1. Based on detection signals acquired from the position sensor 145 and the acceleration sensor 146, the pendulum ECU 147 controls the left-right pendulum drive unit 143 and the front-rear pendulum drive unit 144 to make the top plate 11 perform pendulum motion so as to reduce vibrations caused by acceleration occurring in the autonomous traveling robot R.

[0045] In addition, when the above-mentioned pendulum ECU 147, oscillating ECU 133, and traveling ECU 125 are configured to include a CPU or the like, the various functions of the above-mentioned pendulum ECU 147, oscillating ECU 133, and traveling ECU 125 are realized by each of these CPUs executing a predetermined program.

[0046] In this way, the program executed by the autonomous robot R is provided as a file in an installable or executable format recorded on a recording medium readable by a computer device, such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Recordable), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), etc. The program may also be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0047] (Example of controlling an autonomous robot) Next, a control method of the autonomous traveling robot R by the pendulum ECU 147 and the traveling ECU 125 will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. As described above, the pendulum ECU 147 and the traveling ECU 125 are configured to be able to communicate with each other, for example, by CAN, and cooperate with each other to control the upper unit 1 and the traveling unit 2 so that they are linked together.

[0048] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the pendulum ECU 147 according to the embodiment controls the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 so as to be linked with the traveling unit 2. As shown in FIG.

[0049] 3, it is assumed that the autonomous traveling robot R is traveling, for example, on a rough road with bumps. At this time, the pendulum ECU 147 acquires information that the autonomous traveling robot R is traveling straight forward and backward from the traveling ECU 125. The information that the autonomous traveling robot R is traveling straight is transmitted from the traveling ECU 125 to the pendulum ECU 147 as, for example, a control signal transmitted from the traveling ECU 125 to the traveling unit 2, or a detection signal transmitted from the position sensor 123 that detects the turning angle of the drive wheels 21 to the traveling ECU 125.

[0050] In addition, while the autonomous mobile robot R is traveling on a rough road, the upper unit 1 is subjected to acceleration in the forward / backward direction, which is the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2, and also to acceleration in the left / right direction due to the autonomous mobile robot R being swung left / right.

[0051] 3(a), the pendulum ECU 147 controls the front-to-rear pendulum mechanism 141 based on the acceleration in the front-to-rear direction detected by the acceleration sensor 146, causing the tabletop 11 to perform a pendulum motion in the front-to-rear direction. In parallel with this, the pendulum ECU 147 controls the left-to-right pendulum mechanism 142 based on the acceleration in the left-to-right direction detected by the acceleration sensor 146, causing the tabletop 11 to perform a pendulum motion in the left-to-right direction.

[0052] However, there are cases where the control speed of the left and right pendulum mechanism 142 cannot keep up with the lateral oscillations caused by the unevenness of the road, etc. In such cases, the left and right vibration motion of the tabletop 11 may be in the opposite phase to the actual oscillation, which may make the upper unit 1 unstable.

[0053] In the embodiment, when the upper unit 1 is swaying sideways due to unevenness in the road or the like, and the acceleration sensor 146 detects acceleration occurring in the upper unit 1 in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2, the pendulum ECU 147 reduces the gain for acceleration in a direction different from the traveling direction.

[0054] As shown in Fig. 3(b), in this case, after the gain is reduced, the pendulum motion of the tabletop 11 in response to a given magnitude of acceleration becomes smaller than that before the gain was reduced. In other words, by deliberately slowing down the reaction to acceleration in a direction different from the traveling direction, the upper unit 1 is prevented from becoming unstable.

[0055] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the traveling ECU 125 according to the embodiment controls the traveling unit 2 so as to be linked with the upper unit 1. As shown in FIG.

[0056] As shown in FIG. 3, the pendulum ECU 147 controls, for example, the front-to-rear pendulum mechanism 141 to cause the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 to perform a pendulum motion in the front-to-rear direction, for example, swinging the front end of the top plate 11 upward.

[0057] At this time, the traveling unit 2 acquires information that the tabletop 11 is performing pendulum motion in the forward / backward direction from the pendulum ECU 147. The information that the tabletop 11 is performing pendulum motion in the forward / backward direction is transmitted from the pendulum ECU 147 to the traveling ECU 125 as, for example, a control signal transmitted from the pendulum ECU 147 to the forward / backward pendulum drive unit 144, a detection signal transmitted from a position sensor 145 that detects the rotational angular velocity of the forward / backward pendulum mechanism 141 to the pendulum ECU 147, or a detection signal transmitted from an acceleration sensor 146 that detects the acceleration generated in the pendulum mechanism 14 to the pendulum ECU 147.

[0058] At this time, a backward acceleration acts on the traveling unit 2. That is, for example, if the autonomous traveling robot R is stopped, the traveling unit 2 may move backward due to a reaction to the movement of the top plate 11.

[0059] In the embodiment, when the pendulum ECU 147 actively moves the top plate 11, the traveling ECU 125 controls the traveling unit 2 to cancel the influence of the reaction generated in the traveling unit 2. For example, as described above, when the autonomous traveling robot R is stopped and the front end of the top plate 11 is swung upward, the traveling ECU 125 can control the traveling unit 2 to lock the drive wheels 21.

[0060] (Example of processing by the pendulum ECU and driving ECU) Next, an example of processing by the pendulum ECU 147 and the traveling ECU 125 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of control processing of the autonomous traveling robot R by the pendulum ECU 147 and the traveling ECU 125 according to the embodiment.

[0061] 5, the pendulum ECU 147 communicates with the traveling ECU 125, for example, via a CAN or the like, and monitors whether the traveling unit 2 is traveling (step S101). If the traveling unit 2 is traveling (step S101: Yes), the pendulum ECU 147 determines whether the traveling unit 2 is traveling straight based on information obtained from the traveling ECU 125 (step S102).

[0062] When the running unit 2 is turning right or left or the like (step S102: No), the pendulum ECU 147 controls the pendulum mechanism 14 based on the turning radius and running speed of the running unit 2 to adjust the angle of the top plate 11 so as to cancel out the acceleration applied to the upper unit 1 (step S107).

[0063] When the traveling unit 2 is traveling in a straight line (step S102: Yes), the pendulum ECU 147 monitors, for example, the detection results of the acceleration sensor 146 to monitor whether acceleration is detected in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2 (step S103). If acceleration in a direction different from the traveling direction is not detected (step S103: No), the pendulum ECU 147 controls the front-rear pendulum mechanism 141 solely based on the traveling speed of the traveling unit 2 traveling in a straight line, and adjusts the angle of the top plate 11 so that the acceleration applied to the upper unit 1 is offset (step S106).

[0064] If acceleration in a direction different from the traveling direction is detected (step S103: No), the pendulum ECU 147 reduces the gain for the acceleration of the pendulum mechanism 14 in the direction in which the acceleration was detected (step S104). This reduces the gain of the left-right pendulum drive unit 143 for acceleration in the left-right direction only, and the left-right pendulum motion of the tabletop 11 by the left-right pendulum mechanism 142 is suppressed.

[0065] Then, the pendulum ECU 147 controls the pendulum mechanism 14 based on the acceleration applied to the upper unit 1 in a direction different from the traveling direction and the traveling speed of the traveling unit 2, and adjusts the angle of the top board 11 so that the acceleration applied to the upper unit 1 is cancelled out (step S105). That is, the acceleration in a direction different from the traveling direction is cancelled out mainly by the left-right pendulum mechanism 142, and the acceleration in the front-rear direction due to the straight traveling of the traveling unit 2 is cancelled out mainly by the front-rear pendulum mechanism 141.

[0066] On the other hand, for example, when the traveling unit 2 is stopped (step S101: No), the traveling ECU 125 communicates with the pendulum ECU 147, for example, via CAN or the like, and monitors whether the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 is in operation (step S108).

[0067] If the tabletop 11 is in motion (step S108: Yes), the traveling ECU 125 controls the driving wheels 21, for example by locking the driving wheels 21, based on the information acquired from the pendulum ECU 147 so as to offset the reaction generated in the traveling unit 2 by the motion of the tabletop 11 (step S109). If the tabletop 11 is stopped (step S108: No), the traveling ECU 125 skips the processing of step S108.

[0068] With the above, the processing by the pendulum ECU 147 and the traveling ECU 125 of the embodiment ends.

[0069] (Overview) For example, an autonomous robot equipped with an upper unit and a traveling unit has been developed, in which the upper unit is equipped with a pendulum mechanism or the like that reduces and stabilizes the acceleration generated in the upper unit. However, when the autonomous robot travels on a rough road with bumps, acceleration in the left and right directions, for example, is applied to the upper unit in addition to the traveling direction of the autonomous robot, and the control speed of the pendulum mechanism may not be able to follow this. In addition, for example, when the pendulum mechanism is operated independently regardless of the motion state of the traveling unit, the traveling unit may be affected by the operation of the pendulum mechanism.

[0070] According to the embodiment of the autonomous traveling robot R, the traveling ECU 125 and the pendulum ECU 147 mutually acquire information indicating the motion state of each unit, and based on the acquired information, control the traveling unit 2 and the upper unit 1 to work together. This makes it possible to prevent the traveling unit 2 and the upper unit 1 from being influenced by each other's motion state.

[0071] According to the autonomous traveling robot R of the embodiment, when the pendulum ECU 147 acquires information indicating that the traveling unit 2 is traveling straight ahead, it controls the upper unit 1 to link with the traveling unit 2 based on the straight ahead traveling information. This makes it possible to suppress the pendulum mechanism 14 from over-reacting to the vibrations caused by the traveling unit 2 traveling, and to make the upper unit 1 more stable.

[0072] According to the autonomous traveling robot R of the embodiment, when the traveling unit 2 is traveling straight and the pendulum ECU 147 detects acceleration occurring in the upper unit 1 in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2, the pendulum ECU 147 controls the pendulum mechanism 14 by lowering the gain for the acceleration in the detected direction. This allows the autonomous traveling robot R to travel with the upper unit 1 more stable, for example, even when the autonomous traveling robot R is traveling on a rough road.

[0073] According to the embodiment of the autonomous traveling robot R, when the traveling ECU 125 acquires information indicating that the top plate 11 is performing a pendulum motion, the traveling ECU 125 controls the traveling unit 2 to be linked with the upper unit 1 based on the information of the pendulum motion of the top plate 11. This makes it possible to prevent the traveling unit 2 from being affected by the motion of the upper unit 1.

[0074] (Modification) Next, an autonomous mobile robot R2 according to a modified example of the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. The autonomous mobile robot R2 according to the modified example causes the top plate 11 to perform pendulum motion even while traveling on a slope. In the following drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same components as those in the above-described embodiment, and the description thereof may be omitted.

[0075] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the pendulum ECU according to the modified embodiment controls the top plate 11 of the upper unit 1 so as to be linked with the traveling unit 2. In FIG.

[0076] Assume that the autonomous mobile robot R2 is traveling on a slope that is inclined on one side in the left-right direction, as shown in Fig. 6. The right side of the slope shown in Fig. 6 is lower than the left side, so that the autonomous mobile robot R2 travels straight ahead while leaning to the right.

[0077] 6(a), on such a slope, when the top plate 11 is in the initial position, that is, when the top plate 11 is in a position horizontal to the main body 12 without operating the pendulum mechanism 14, the center of gravity G1 of the upper unit 1 is positioned to the right with respect to the center position in the left-right direction of the traveling unit 2. If such a deviation exceeds a predetermined amount, there is a risk that the autonomous traveling robot R2 will fall to the right.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 6(b), when the pendulum ECU of the modified example detects that the autonomous robot R2 is tilted by a predetermined angle or more in a direction different from the traveling direction, it tilts the tabletop 11 to prevent the autonomous robot R2 from falling over. Such a tilt of the autonomous robot R2 can be determined, for example, by the position sensor 145 detecting the tilt of the tabletop 11 even though the tabletop 11 is in the initial position. In addition, the decision to tilt the tabletop 11 can be made, for example, when the tabletop 11 is at a predetermined angle or more at which the autonomous robot R2 may fall over. This predetermined angle may be changed each time, taking into account the traveling speed of the traveling unit 2, etc.

[0079] In the example of Fig. 6(b), the pendulum ECU of the modified example controls the left-right pendulum mechanism 142 to lift up the left end of the top board 11, which is the end opposite to the tilt direction of the autonomous mobile robot R2. As a result, the center of gravity G2 of the upper unit 1 shifts to the right and is positioned so as to overlap in the vertical direction with the center position of the traveling unit 2 in the left-right direction. This prevents the autonomous mobile robot R2 from tipping over to the right.

[0080] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of a control process of the autonomous traveling robot R2 by the pendulum ECU and the traveling ECU according to the modified embodiment.

[0081] 7, the pendulum ECU of the modified example communicates with the traveling ECU via, for example, CAN or the like, and monitors whether the traveling unit 2 is traveling or not (step S201). If the traveling unit 2 is traveling (step S201: Yes), the pendulum ECU of the modified example determines whether the traveling road is inclined in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2 (step S202). That is, the pendulum ECU of the modified example monitors, for example, the detection result of the position sensor 145, and monitors whether the autonomous traveling robot R2 is inclined in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2.

[0082] If the road is inclined in a direction different from the traveling direction (step S202: Yes), the pendulum ECU of the modified example determines whether the inclination angle of the road is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle (step S203).

[0083] If the inclination angle of the travel path is equal to or greater than the predetermined angle (step S203: Yes), the pendulum ECU of the modified example controls the pendulum mechanism 14 based on the inclination direction and inclination angle at this time to adjust the angle of the tabletop 11 so as to prevent the autonomous mobile robot R2 from tipping over in the inclined direction (step S204). As a result, the angle of the tabletop 11 is adjusted in the left-right direction exclusively by the left-right pendulum drive unit 143, preventing the autonomous mobile robot R2 from tipping over.

[0084] After adjusting the angle of the top plate 11 in this way, the pendulum ECU of the modified example further controls the pendulum mechanism 14 based on the running speed of the traveling unit 2 to adjust the angle of the top plate 11 so as to cancel out the acceleration applied to the upper unit 1 by the traveling of the traveling unit 2 (step S205). In other words, the acceleration caused by the traveling of the traveling unit 2 is cancelled out exclusively by the front-rear pendulum mechanism 141.

[0085] On the other hand, for example, if the traveling unit 2 is stopped (step S201: No), the pendulum ECU of the modified example skips the processes of steps S202 to S205.

[0086] Furthermore, if the running path does not have a slope in a direction different from the running direction (step S202: No), or if the slope of the running path in a direction different from the running direction is less than a predetermined angle (step S203: No), the pendulum ECU of the modified example skips the processing of steps S202 to S204 and adjusts the angle of the top plate 11 so as to cancel out the acceleration caused by the running unit 2 running (step S205).

[0087] This ends the processing by the pendulum ECU and the driving ECU of the modified example.

[0088] According to the modified autonomous traveling robot R2, when the pendulum ECU detects a tilt in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit 2 while the traveling unit 2 is traveling straight ahead, the pendulum ECU controls the pendulum mechanism 14 to correct the deviation of the center of gravity of the upper unit 1 relative to the traveling unit 2 caused by the tilt. This makes it possible to prevent the autonomous traveling robot R2 from tipping over on a slope.

[0089] In addition, the autonomous traveling robot R2 of the modified example has the same effects as the autonomous traveling robot R of the embodiment.

[0090] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This new embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0091] 1...upper unit, 2...running unit, 11...top plate, 12...main body, 13...rotation mechanism, 14...pendulum mechanism, 21...driving wheel, 22...chassis, 122...running drive unit, 123...position sensor, 124...object detection sensor, 125...running ECU, 141...front / rear pendulum mechanism, 142...left / right pendulum mechanism, 143...left / right pendulum drive unit, 144...front / rear pendulum drive unit, 145...position sensor, 146...acceleration sensor, 147...pendulum ECU, R, R2...autonomous running robot.

Claims

1. A traveling unit having drive wheels and a chassis and capable of traveling forward and backward in a straight line and turning left and right; an upper unit disposed on an upper portion of the traveling unit and having a vibration damping mechanism capable of damping vibrations caused by the straight traveling and turning of the traveling unit; A first control unit that controls the traveling unit; A second control unit that controls the upper unit, The first and second control units are Each unit acquires information indicating a motion state of the other unit, and controls the traveling unit and the upper unit to move in conjunction with each other based on the acquired information. Autonomous mobile body.

2. The second control unit is When the information indicating that the traveling unit is traveling straight ahead is acquired, the upper unit is controlled so as to be linked with the traveling unit based on the information of the straight ahead traveling. The autonomous moving body according to claim 1 .

3. The second control unit is When the traveling unit is traveling straight ahead and an acceleration generated in the upper unit in a direction different from the traveling direction of the traveling unit is detected, a gain for the acceleration in the detected direction is reduced to control the vibration damping mechanism. The autonomous moving body according to claim 2 .

4. The vibration damping mechanism includes: A pendulum mechanism for pendulum-moving a top plate disposed on the upper unit, The first control unit is When information indicating that the tabletop is performing the pendulum motion is acquired, the traveling unit is controlled so as to be linked with the upper unit based on the information of the pendulum motion of the tabletop. The autonomous moving body according to claim 1 .

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